464 



FARIMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 8 



vanceJ in Ii(e, hail seen an ahundance of fjame fall 

 before him, and was a finished ailppt at his busi- 

 ness. The jrentlenian pre|;ared for liie field, and the 

 dog, perceiving ihe shooting jacket, gun, &c. ac- 

 companied him without hesitation. In about two 

 hours the dog was observed, at the distance of se- 

 veral fields, returning lionie very leisurely and very 

 unconcernedly — and home he came, followed in 

 some fifteen or twenty minutes by the gentleman. 

 It was easy to guess what had occurred. The 

 gentleman had not killed a bird ; but on repeated- 

 ly missing, the dog beiran to testily sympioms of 

 uneasiness and dissatisfaction ; and, at leniriii, after 

 Bome half-score shots had been wasted, Bob nn- 

 ceremonionsly gave up and returned home. The 

 lender was prepared for such a result. He was 

 aware his friend was a very intlitfercnt shot; and 

 as the the dog had been in the habit of observing 

 the I'ame ftll when the gun fired, he concluded 

 Bob would suspend his exertions when he found 

 them unavailing. 



We have already observed, that any dog which 

 will hunt may be tau<rht to set. We once saw 

 an animal bred between the water spaniel and 

 the shepherd's do<r that pointed partridges as stea- 

 dily as possible. Indeed, it would appear as if 

 this manoeu\re, or act of pointing, depending as it 

 does on the s-^nse of" smell, is not exactly confined 

 to the dog tribe, as the fi)Ilowing anecdote will 

 render rnanilbsi ; which, however, we should not 

 introduce, were not its autheni icily placed beyond 

 all doubt. A black sow, belonging to Richard 

 Toomer, acquired the knack of pointing. Slut 

 wasf>red in the New Forest, Hampshirt^, and was 

 of that sort of hog which maintain themselves 

 upon the wild productions of the Forest, except 

 when they have young, when they require extra 

 food for a ti^w weeks. She v>^as given, when about 

 three months old, by Thomas to his brother, Rich- 

 ard Toomer (both keeper- in the Foresi) for the 

 purpose of breeding. Little noiice was taken ol 

 her till she was about eighteen months old, as she 

 had not produced any young: she was seldom seen 

 near the lodge, but chanced to be observed one day 

 near Ihat place, when Thomas Toomer happened 

 to be there. The brothers were concerned together 

 in breaking pointers and setters, some of their own 

 breeding, and others which were sent from differ- 

 ent gentlemen ; of the latter alihough they would 

 stand and back, many wevc so indifferent that 

 they would neither hunt, nor express any salisfic- 

 tion when birds were killed and placed before 

 them. The slackness in these doiis first sugL^ested 

 the idea, that by the same method any oiher ani- 

 mal might be tauirht to stand, and do as well as one 

 of those huntless and inactive pointers. At this 

 instant the sow passed by, and was remarked as 

 being extremely handsome. R. T'oomer threw 

 her a piece or two of oatmeal roll, lor which she 

 appeared grateful, and approached very near; fi'om 

 that time they determined to make a s|;orting |iig 

 ol" her. The first step was to give her a name, and 

 that of Slut (given in consequence of havinir 

 soiled herself in a bog) she acknowledged in the 

 course of the day, and never al'tiTwards firirot. 

 Within a Ibrlnitrht, she would find and point par- 

 tridges and rabbits, and her tr, lining was much 

 forwardetl by tiic abundance of both wliich were 

 found near the lodge. She daily improved, and in 

 a few weeks would retrieve birds that had run, as 

 well as the best pointer ; nay, her nose was supe- 



rior to any pointer they ever possessed, and no 

 men in Enirland had belter. They hunted prin- 

 cipally on tfie moors and heaths. Slut has stood 

 partridges, black game, pheasants, snifies, and rab- 

 bits, in the same day, but was never known to 

 point a hare. She was seldom talcen, by choice, 

 more than a mile or two from the lodge, but has 

 f"requently joined them when out with their point- 

 ers, and continued with them several hours. She 

 has sometimes stood a jack-snipe when all the 

 pointers had passed it. She would back the dogs 

 when they pointed ; but the doijs rel"used to back 

 her until spoke to, these dogs being trained to 

 make a general halt when the word was given, 

 whether any dog pointed or not : so that she has 

 been frequently standing in the midst of a field of 

 pointers. In consetiuence of tlie dogs not liking 

 to hunt when she was with them, (for the/ drop- 

 ped their sterns and showed s\'niptoms of jeal- 

 ousy,) she did not very often accompany them, 

 except fl)r the novelty, or when she accidentally 

 joined them in the Forest. The pace was mostly 

 a trot ; and she was seldom known to gallop, ex- 

 cept when called to go out shooting: upon which 

 occasion, she would come off the ibrest home, ai 

 full stretch (lor she was never shut up. but to pre- 

 vent being out of the sound of the call or whistle, 

 when a party of gentlemen had appointed to see 

 her out next day, and which she obeyed as readi- 

 ly as a dog,) and be as nujch eliUed as a dog 

 upon being shown the game. She always ex- 

 pressed great pleasure when iiame, either dead or 

 alive, was shown to her. She has frequently 

 stood a single partridge at forty yards distance, 

 her nose in a direct line to the bird ; after 

 standing some considerable lime, she would drop, 

 still keeping her nose in a direct line lor the game, 

 and woulii continue in that position until the game 

 moved. If it took wingshe would come up to the 

 place and put her nose down two or three times ; 

 but, if a bird ran ofi", she would get up, go to the 

 |)lace, and draw slowly afier it; when the bird 

 stopped, she would stand it as beibre. The 

 Toomers lived abour seven miles apart, at Rhine- 

 field and Broomey Lodges; Slut has many 

 times gone by herself from one lodije to the other, 

 as if to solicit the gratification of being taken out 

 with the gun. She was about five years old when 

 her master died, ami at the sale of his pointers, 

 &c. she was purchased by Sir H. JNJildmay, and 

 sent to Dogmersfieid Park, where she remained 

 some years: she was last in the possession of 

 Colonel Sikes, was then ten years old, and had 

 become fit and sinirgish, but would point game as 

 well as fie(i)re. When killed, which was at Bas- 

 silden House, Slut weighed seven hundred pounds: 

 we envy not the feelings of a man who could 

 order the slauirhler of such an animal. 



From tlie Cliroiiicle. 

 RAILWAY TIIAXSFORTATION OF LIVE STOCK. 



One of the causes of general agricultural de- 

 pression has been the want to the firmer of the 

 means of transporting his produce with rapidity 

 and certainty, to those districts where larger and 

 bettf>r remuneratiuiT prices can be obtained than 

 in his own immediate vicinity. It is well known 

 that, though exleiisi\e purchases of (iit cattle are 

 made every year, in Heretbrdshire and the neigh- 



